Alert archive / Florida / Rip Current Statements in 2013

Rip Current Statement 6, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

October 4, 2013Pinellas County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this rip current statement at Oct 4, 2013, 8:05 AM EDT for Pinellas County, Florida. It was in force for 33 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Oct 4, 2013, 8:05 AM EDT (12:05 UTC)
Expired: Oct 5, 2013, 4:54 PM EDT
In force: 33 hr
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL

County Pinellas County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:05 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 40 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 268 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 785 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

627 
WHUS42 KTBW 041205
CFWTBW

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
805 AM EDT FRI OCT 4 2013

...MODERATE TO HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS THROUGH SUNDAY...

.LONG PERIOD SWELLS FROM TROPICAL STORM KAREN ARE COMING ONSHORE
AND CAUSING A RISK OF RIP CURRENTS TODAY. THE RIP CURRENT THREAT
WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AS KAREN MOVES ONSHORE OVER THE
NORTHERN GULF COAST.

FLZ050-051-055-060-062-065-060000-
/O.NEW.KTBW.RP.S.0006.131004T1205Z-131006T1800Z/
PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-SARASOTA-CHARLOTTE-LEE-
805 AM EDT FRI OCT 4 2013

...RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A RIP
CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. 

* TIMING...RIP CURRENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED AT AREA
  BEACHES. THE THREAT OF RIP CURRENTS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY
  AFTERNOON. 

* IMPACTS...RIP CURRENTS CAN PULL EVEN STRONG SWIMMERS OUT INTO
  DEEPER WATER.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS. 

RIP CURRENTS ARE POWERFUL CHANNELS OF WATER FLOWING QUICKLY AWAY
FROM SHORE...WHICH OCCUR MOST OFTEN AT LOW SPOTS OR BREAKS IN THE
SANDBAR AND IN THE VICINITY OF STRUCTURES SUCH AS GROINS...
JETTIES AND PIERS. HEED THE ADVICE OF LIFEGUARDS AND THE BEACH
PATROL. PAY ATTENTION TO FLAGS AND POSTED SIGNS. 

IF YOU BECOME CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...DO NOT PANIC. REMAIN CALM
AND BEGIN TO SWIM PARALLEL TO SHORE. ONCE YOU ARE AWAY FROM THE
FORCE OF THE RIP CURRENT...BEGIN TO SWIM BACK TO THE BEACH. DO
NOT ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A RIP CURRENT. EVEN A STRONG
SWIMMER CAN BECOME EXHAUSTED QUICKLY.

&&

$$


HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TAMPA

1 follow-up statement

178 
WHUS42 KTBW 052054
CFWTBW

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
454 PM EDT SAT OCT 5 2013

FLZ050-051-055-060-062-065-052200-
/O.CAN.KTBW.RP.S.0006.000000T0000Z-131006T1800Z/
PINELLAS-HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-SARASOTA-CHARLOTTE-LEE-
454 PM EDT SAT OCT 5 2013

...RIP CURRENT RISK IS CANCELLED...

BUOY OBSERVATIONS AND WEB CAMS ALONG AREA BEACHES INDICATE THAT
SEAS HAVE DIMINISHED CONSIDERABLY TODAY DUE TO THE WEAKENING OF
TROPICAL STORM KAREN. SEAS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO INCREASE AGAIN
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEKEND...THEREFORE THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE IN TAMPA BAY RUSKIN HAS CANCELLED THE RIP CURRENT
RISK.

$$


HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TAMPA

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Florida, 2013 Every rip current statement in 2013

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.